In Awe.

It's been a while since I have been overwhelmed by God's grace.

Hope to be still in this all week.

God is good.

Celebrating Mom.

Aren't mothers wonderful?

My mom is pretty amazing (to say the least). When I was 1 month, my parents brought me home (... adopted). Apparently I never wore the same outfit twice for many years, and have the pictures to prove it.

When I was a two-year old screaming and crying in church (like usual apparently), some guy told my mom that his daughter did the same thing, and now she's a nun. The devils at work even when you're a baby.

My mom bought Disneyland passes for me and my friends when I was 5, and picked us up from school and took us there... a lot.

When I was 7, God gave my mom a natural child. It was a miracle. She was 41, and had never been able to great pregnant.

When I was 9, my mom decided to try fertility treatments and had twins.

Now there were 4.

When my dad acted not so great at the age of 12, my mom made him his favorite dinner.

When I got suspended from school when I was 13, my mom didn't ground me because I had straight A's. If only that would have motivated me...

When I was 14, my mom reminded me that if I ever got pregnant, I could come to her, and she would never abandon me.

When I was 16, I lied a big lie. My mom covered for me.

For my senior prom, my mom came up with the idea of my entire family leaving the house, while I had a raging after party.

My mom believed in Jesus, even when I hated God. Now we both have faith through Jesus.

When I turned 18, I became too cool for my mom. Didn't really want to spend time with my mom.

And yet, she got me a job, paid for my college, paid for a lot of things really, bought me new tires when they popped, brought me flowers on Valentines day, cooked me dinner every night, took my side with everything, worked her butt off, and always reminded me that she loved me.

Now that I am older, and I can see the world for what it is, I have realized that not a lot of people are as lucky as me to have a mother like I do. Or even, have a mother. Even my mother lost her mother when she was 19. I can't imagine how much my mother must have hurt. My mom is so strong.

People ask me all the time, "Don't you want to meet your birth parents"? When I say "no", people are always surprised. You may wonder why. Well, I don't like to be disappointed, and I know that whoever my birth mother is, could never live up to the woman who has MY mother all these years. I am thankful for my birth mother's selfless act, and I hope that a bit of her compassion and dignity rubbed off on me in the womb, but I have no connection to her. MY mother is who I am bound with.

My mother is the one person on this earth who I know will never forsake me. This is love. So much love. It blows my mind when Jesus tells us to love strangers with that same love, because in my head I think - only a mother could do that.

I am so thankful for what my mother has done for me, and continues to do today. And every single day, I thank God for giving us one more day together.

Arizona's Immigration Laws

It's been an incredible couple of weeks with the signing of the new Arizona immigration laws. They were revised just yesterday to include changes that would require police officers to question legal status ONLY if they are stopped for some reason (ie. traffic violation). Before that change, it was encouraged to seek out illegal immigrants, ask for their papers and if they didn't have them, to deport them. Most will say, "there is no difference" in Friday's change. I tend to agree. Unfortunately, law officers are not always the most honest people in the world, and tend to use their power unlawfully. So I am sure many illegal immigrants will be pulled over for "traffic violations", who were doing nothing wrong.

There are many people who have some fierce opinions on this issue, but instead of blatantly telling you mine, I just want to bring up some facts/issues/point that have been weighing heavily on my mind and my heart in regards to this issue. I am going to keep religion out of this one, and base the following statements on history and little facts.

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#1 - When people do things that are classified as "illegal" in America, they are punished. Whether it's with jail or a ticket that must be paid, most of us have had to pay the price for doing an illegal act over the time of our lives. But for some reason in America, no one is ever really punished for living in America "illegally".

>>>I think of my friend Simone who is from South Africa - she had to go through A LOT of trouble to get into America legally, and is finally taking her citizenship test in a couple months. She has done everything right, paid a lot of money for it, and has gone through many trials to get there, but she did it.

#2 - I checked out California's medi-cal benefits, and Arizona's medi-caid benefits, and was surprised to find that anyone (even if you are an illegal immigrant) could get health benefits and welfare if you lived in California. In Arizona, you HAD to be not only a US Citizen, but an Arizona resident. When it comes to this matter, Arizona's laws make sense to me... Especially because California illegal immigrants are pushing $3 Million, and Arizona has a measly $500,000.

#3 - Is the US being hypocritical? The US is FOUNDED on illegal immigration. Unless you are full-on American Indian, then you have no right to say anything about illegal immigrants not getting a fair shot. Unfortunately, it seems as if anger over immigration is tied to racism and greed. Even in the 1930's, when white people immigrated it wasn't much of a problem. But at one point between the years of 1929 - 1930, 500,000 Mexicans were deported back to Mexico from the United States.

>>>>The first American law in regards to immigration was the Naturalization Act of 1790, which stated that "any free white man" with "good moral character" could become a legal citizen of the US.

>>>In 1913, the American Indians were stripped of their legal status and land.

This was overturned in 1952

>>Immigration was shut down during the Great Depression

#4 - In the 80's, there were only 500,000 illegal immigrants migrating to the US on a YEARLY basis.

#5 - In 1990, President Bush signed an Immigration Act that allowed 700,000 more illegal immigrants enter the US, per YEAR. Since 1986, congress has passed SEVEN amnesties for illegal immigrants.

>>>>>How is it fair that the US seemed to have an "open door" policy since 1990,

and now one state just wants to change their mind?

#6 - Illegal immigrants pay about $7 billion into social security every year.

#7 - Most children from illegal immigrants are citizens of the US because they were born here. It's the parents and grandparents who are illegal. And if they are deported in Arizona, looks like they will need to hire more social workers to place all these kids in foster homes, as they literally rip families apart.

#8 - This issue is too closely related to "genocide", and it makes me very nervous. Jews were always allowed to live in peace until Hitler came along and changed the rules around. What was first - they were required to carry around their papers, and wear a Jewish star on their clothes to identify who they were. We all know what happened from there...